6404. Exeter Road

 

Greg Stobbs, Exeter Road, Bristol, September 2024
Greg Stobbs, Exeter Road, Bristol, September 2024

This is a wonderful one-off piece that simply appeared in Exeter Road recently, and is something of an enigma. It is by an artist, Greg Stobbs, who from what I can make out is an illustrator. It turns out on digging a bit deeper that Greg Stobbs is Squirl of Squirl Art, who has appeared on these pages in the context of his Upfest pieces.

Greg Stobbs, Exeter Road, Bristol, September 2024
Greg Stobbs, Exeter Road, Bristol, September 2024

I am guessing that the piece is a commission, perhaps brokered by the Upfest team. However it came to be painted, it is absolutely wonderful and straight out of the children’s picture book style of street art. The branch and bird look very much at home on this rather tatty wall, and I very much hope that we see more of Greg Stobbs’ illustrative work in Bristol before too long.

6403. Brunel Way (291)

Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024

This is a rather curious and abstract piece of graffiti writing from Mr Draws, who I know is always looking at ways to redefine his work, and likes to push boundaries. Sometimes Mr Draws will inject one of his ‘experimental’ pieces in the middle of a series of more customary work, and it is great to see.

Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024

In this one, there are some parallels with the style of Benjimagnetic, providing hints at the letters in amongst the decorative work. The ‘D’ and ‘R’ are clear but the ‘A’ and ‘W’ are more fused together. There is a nice cosmic feel to the whole piece and I like what I see. Keep pushing boundaries I would say.

6402. Dean Lane skate park (758)

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

It must be nice (Hamilton earworm alert), to have talented friends who honour your birthday with a celebratory paint jam. On this occasion it was Andy Council’s special 50th birthday and he was joined by several artist friends in Dean Lane.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

This was his own birthday piece which is a wonderful starling painted in his inimitable style. The stylised bird exaggerates the superb iridescent colours that starlings have which you can only really see when you get up close. This is a great piece, on a slightly awkward section of wall, but Andy Council has nailed it. Happy belated birthday.

6401. The Tobacco Factory

Stephen Quick, The Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2024
Stephen Quick, The Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2024

I am on a bit of a tight time schedule this morning because I have to get a train to London to watch my beloved Arsenal taking on Leicester City in the Premier League. Actually I don’t ‘have’ to, I want to. This is going to be a quick one, in more ways than one… it is a recent panel piece by Stephen Quick.

Stephen Quick, The Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2024
Stephen Quick, The Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2024

Stephen Quick has been a favourite of mine for many years, and manages to transition between his studio work and his street work seamlessly, appearing to be equally comfortable with both. His stencil work is outstanding and he augments his pieces with a little brush work to tidy things up. The piece was painted as part of the South Bristol Arts Trail and is exhibited in the outdoor cafe at the Tobacco Factory. The piece honours the strong females in his life. Very nice work.

6400. M32 roundabout J3 (627)

Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol September 2024
Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol September 2024

I bumped in to Kid Krishna earlier this week when he was painting under Brunel Way which was particularly nice as I hadn’t seen him for a very long while. I’m not sure he recognised me without my beard. He has been on fire lately, even venturing into The Bearpit, which hasn’t seen any action for several years.

Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol September 2024
Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol September 2024

This is a really unusual CRIE piece with interesting colours. Quite unlike anything else you see about the place. The two colour palettes appear to be so at odds with one another, but somehow it works really well. I am mindful that I have a whole ton of Kid Krishna pieces in my archive and probably need to dig them out.

6399. Dean Lane skate park (757)

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

My inclination is not to say to much about this outstanding character piece by Cheo for fear of spoiling it. Cheo has been a mainstay of character pieces in Bristol forever and although he has been relatively quiet in recent years, he can still turn it on when he wants to. This is a beauty.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

The character is painted completely in green scale colours apart from the goggles and gold chain – even the bee is green. A small masterpiece from Cheo.

6398. Montpelier Park

Fudge, Montpelier Park, Bristol, September 2024
Fudge, Montpelier Park, Bristol, September 2024

It is such a good feeling when new graffiti writers on my radar start to appear once, then twice and then all of a sudden everywhere. Examples might include Raid, Dirtygypo, Grimes, Jevoissoul, Nips, Butch and so on, and now I am hoping that Fudge will be joining their ranks.

Fudge, Montpelier Park, Bristol, September 2024
Fudge, Montpelier Park, Bristol, September 2024

Her last piece (and first I became aware of) was on the M32 roundabout and included a large eyed cartoon character. This one in Montpelier Park is a straightforward piece of writing, but there is something rather pleasing about her letters and her fills too are rather nice and dreamy. I’ll be looking out for more from Fudge.

6397. M32 Spot (194)

Logoe and Nova, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Logoe and Nova, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

When Logoe hits town, he tends to hit it pretty hard. When this collaborative piece was painted earlier in the month, I think it might have been a one-off, because I didn’t find any other pieces in all the spots he usually decorates so freely. It is a collaboration with Nova, about whom I know absolutely nothing, but it is a beauty nonetheless.

Logoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Logoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

More often than not Logoe writes with thin script letters, but he has switched things up in this piece of graffiti writing with great big fat chrome letters with a bold solid black drop shadow. The whole piece is very neat and tidy and well presented on a red cloudy background. Of course, there is a sprinkling of small oval dots running through the piece, just in case we weren’t sure it was by Logoe.

Nova, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Nova, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

Nova has painted letters using the same colour scheme, and also incorporated little ovals, although arranged a little more orderly than Logoe’s. Another cross-reference feature is the yellow ‘o’ in both pieces.  Nova’s writing is also nicely presented, and I am intrigued to know more about the artist, but that might need to wait until the next time I bump into Logoe. A fine collaboration an a favourite wall.

6396. Dean Lane skate park (756)

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

Awkward has been getting noticeably busier in recent months, possibly prompted by his counterparts with whom he has collaborated successfully. This time though he painted solo on the bricked up flat wall behind the long skate ramp.

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

The blue-faced character, wearing a baseball cap, appears to be resting on a wonderfully painted red cloud (emanating from his ear) and has a trademark speech bubble with the word AWKWARD spread over two lines. The large saucer eyes and wobbly lines to the left add a nervous energy to the piece. Awkward’s characters are quite unique and always come across as fairly wired or fraught. This is a nice piece.

Thursday doors – 26 September 2024 – Street art doors

Doors 279 – Street art and graffiti doors of Bristol – July to October 2023

It has been a little while since I last posted street art and graffiti doors, so before I resume with doors from towns and cities I have visited, I will dwell on my home city (and Exeter) with some photographs of decorated doors. All of these doors have appeared on Natural Adventures before, but in graffiti and street art posts – the photographs were taken between July and October last year. I hope you like them:

Inkie, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Inkie, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

Andy Council, East Street, Bristol, August 2023
Andy Council, East Street, Bristol, August 2023

Aspire, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Aspire, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

Taboo, East Street, Bristol, August 2023
Taboo, East Street, Bristol, August 2023

Rose Popay, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Rose Popay, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

Cheba, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Cheba, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

None Here, Exeter, October 2023
None Here, Exeter, October 2023

Martin D'Acy, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Martin D’Acy, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

Stivs and Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, August 2023
Stivs and Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, August 2023

I will return to more conventional doors next time, but haven’t yet decided which of my folders to unlock – a surprise for you. May I wish you a happy weekend.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.

by Scooj

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